


sit in silence (with me)

by idkimoutofideas



Series: febuwhump 2021 [5]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Lucretia needs a hug, Nightmares, Team as Family, The Stolen Century Cycle 65: The Judges' World, post Stolen Century Cycle 65: The Judges' World, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idkimoutofideas/pseuds/idkimoutofideas
Summary: After the Judges' World Lucretia has nightmares, and Magnus comforts her.Written for Febuwhump day 6: insomnia
Relationships: Magnus Burnsides & The Director | Lucretia
Series: febuwhump 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154915
Kudos: 11
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	sit in silence (with me)

_ ‘How could he leave her behind?’ _

Magnus wakes with a start, panic filling his chest, and he reaches automatically for the axe he keeps by his bed. His heart is pounding in his throat as he scans his surroundings, looking for anything out of place, any sign of danger. There’s nothing obvious, which only goes to put him more on edge. He sits in darkness for several minutes, every sense on high alert, before he finally convinces himself that nothing’s wrong. They’re safe, still on the Starblaster, there’s no threat.

Slowly the tension bleeds out of Magnus' body and he slumps forward, resting his head in his hands. The details of the nightmare have already faded from his mind, but the sense of guilt won’t go away. The dream felt oddly familiar, like an old wound that never quite healed right, but he’s certain he’s never had it before.

They landed on this new world a few weeks ago, and ever since it’s been weirdly tense. The world is completely deserted, and they’ve encountered no threats, but the others are still on edge from the last world. He tries not to think about it, how close they were to not making it out. It’s amazing Lucretia managed to survive a year by herself. He’s not sure how she did it.

Magnus shakes his head and stands up. He needs to do… something. Anything but sit in the dark, in silence. He reaches for the door and hesitates, glancing at the axe still clutched in one hand. He doesn’t need to bring it, they’re safe on the Starblaster. He leaves it propped up against the wall of his room and heads out, immediately missing the familiar weight of the weapon.

He’s not sure where he’s going, all he knows is that he needs to move. So he wanders the halls of the ship, hoping to find what he’s looking for. Even if he has no idea what that is.

His feet bring him to the kitchen, and Magnus pauses when he notices the light pouring out from under the door. Either someone forgot to turn it off when they left, or Taako fell asleep while cooking again. Magnus is willing to bet the latter.

Magnus slowly pushes open the door, and is surprised to find Lucretia sitting on one of the stools by the counter, a mug held loosely in her hands as she stares off into space. She doesn’t give any indication she heard him, so he takes another step and quietly clears his throat.

The moment he makes a noise she jumps, her head whipping around to stare at Magnus, and he notes the wand clutched tightly in her hand.

“Hey Luce.” He says gently. She stares at him for another moment, and he’s about to say something else when she finally speaks.

“Magnus.” Her voice is barely a whisper, and she clears it once before trying again. “Magnus.” She repeats, stronger this time.

He gives her a soft smile and makes his way to stand next to her, leaning against the counter. She tucks the wand back up her sleep, but her gaze doesn't leave him.

He bumps his shoulder into hers gently. “You good?” He asks quietly. She nods quickly and looks down at the mug in her hands, her fingers tapping nervously on the rim. She takes a sip, makes a face, and puts the mug back down. Magnus chuckles and takes that as his cue to make more tea.

He moves around the kitchen slowly and retrieves the necessary ingredients to make a pot of chamomile - or whatever chamomile adjacent plant Taako and Barry scrounged up recently. He can feel her eyes on him the whole time. Normally he’d find that type of scrutiny unnerving, but every time he glances over he can see the slight desperation in her eyes, and when he gives her a smile it eases just a little.

The tea is finally done, and he pours two cups. He exchanges one for the mug Lucretia had, and doesn't comment on how she grabs onto him for a second longer than necessary. He puts the old mug in the sink and turns back to her. Her eyes are still fixated on him, but her gaze is distant, not really focused. She’s clutching the mug so tightly in her hands that her knuckles have gone white.

He holds out a hand to her and she jumps slightly, refocusing on him. “Come on.” He says quietly. She stares at him for a moment, looks down at his outstretched hand and the back up at him. Slowly she reaches out for him, like she’s worried if she moves too fast he’ll disappear. When she takes his hand he squeezes hard, and she relaxes a little and allows him to pull her out of the kitchen and into the common room. He sits heavily on one of the couches, careful not to spill his tea, and after a moment she joins him, leaving a few inches between them.

He doesn’t comment on it, and instead reaches for a chunk of wood he left on the coffee table yesterday. He doesn't have a plan for what to carve, but that’s fine, that’s not the point. The point is to keep himself busy.

It’s funny, Magnus has lived with these people for 60-some odd years now, at this point he knows them better than he knows himself. Knows what it means when Taako stays up all night baking. Knows why Davenport walks through the ship every night, double checking that all the doors are locked tight. Knows how to tell when Barry needs a little forceful encouragement to participate in something, and when he actually needs to be left alone. Knows how Merle feels every time one of them dies and he can’t do anything about it, knows how he beats himself up every time. Knows that when Lup starts  _ literally _ smoking it’s time to drag her off somewhere out of the way and encourage her to cast the biggest fireball she can. And he knows that Lucretia doesn’t like being the center of attention, and though she's left her shell over the decades they’ve spent together, sometimes she just wants to sit in silence with someone.

So he does that.

He sits, and drinks his tea, and carves. Paying attention to Lucretia without  _ paying attention _ to her. He notices when she leans back against the armrest, and easily adjusts his position so she can lay her feet in his lap. He rests his arms on top of her legs and continues carving, doing his best not to get wood shavings everywhere.

He notices that though she’s still watching him, her gaze is less intense. Goes from a tunnel vision focus to idly watching the wood take shape in his hands. He notices when she starts nodding off, and he quietly rescues her mug before it can fall to the floor, placing it on the table and out of harm's way.

“Thank you.” Lucretia says, so quietly he barely hears it. He knows she’s not just talking about the tea, and when he looks up she’s still watching him, but it’s much more relaxed. He smiles and shrugs slightly, looking back down at the carving in his hands.

“You’re not alone anymore.” He says. She doesn’t reply, and when he looks up again she’s fallen asleep, hands folded neatly across her stomach and her head lolled to the side.

He can’t help but chuckle, and carefully puts the knife and carving away before grabbing a nearby blanket to drag over the both of them.

Maybe now he can get some sleep too.


End file.
